|
Get Solar Savvy
To support its Green Power Switch® program, TVA has built 15 solar sites in the Tennessee Valley over the past two years, for a total of more than 330kW of solar power. Although large centralized solar sites are indispensable to the overall power grid, solar is said to work best as a distributed energy source located where the power is needed. Under TVA’s Generation Partners® program, TVA is purchasing additional sources of power from small, privately-owned wind turbines and solar panels at 15 cents per kilowatt-hour. Residents are charged the regular rate for all electricity that the home uses whether the power comes from the solar or wind system, or the power grid. The Sharp Corporation has recently built a solar module production facility in Memphis, Tennessee. Through the coordinating efforts of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and the State Energy Office, the first Sharp solar modules used in Tennessee were installed on two Zero Energy Habitat homes in Lenoir City. The project was co-sponsored by Habitat for Humanity and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Big Frog Mountain Corporation of Chattanooga installed these newer, more efficient modules. Regional loan institutions are becoming aware of the increased value solar power can add to both residential and commercial buildings. To find out what subsidies and tax incentives on renewable energy resources are available in your state, go to http://www.dsireusa.org Also see the National Renewable Energy Laboratory at http://www.nrel.gov For information on Big Frog Mountain see http://www.bigfrogmountain.com and for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy e-mail Gil Melear-Hough at gil@cleanenergy.org. |
Printable Version | Email to a friend | Add to favorites | Larger font
